The Finish Line r5-5

by Cliff Ryder

  David did so, finding an HK USP 4.6 mm pistol resting in a special compartment, its butt protruding toward him. Next to it were two full magazines. He drew it and checked the load, keeping the gun near his waist to not aggravate his injured arm, and slipped the spare magazines into his back pocket. "I'm ready," he said.

  "Okay, here we go." Jay hit the brakes, stopping the vehicle right in front of the door, cutting off most of the avenue of fire the second-story man had enjoyed until now. It did not stop the hail of bullets that were still thudding into the roof, however.

  "David, give me covering fire," Julio said.

  David and Julio both rolled down their windows and pointed their guns toward the upper window, triggering several rounds from each weapon. Glass shattered and wood splinters rained down on them as the bullets chewed up the front facade.

  "Fire in the hole!" Julio held the live flash-bang grenade for a second after he had pulled the pin, then launched it toward the window. His timing was perfect.

  The flash-bang went off in the window frame with a bright burst of light and a loud bang, even outside. As soon as it did, David ran around the front of the SUV, following Jay, who was at the top of the steps. He looked back to see Julio and Fritz checking around the front corners of the house before progressing down the sides.

  "Go!" he told Jay, who pulled the door open and covered the right side, while David held his pistol steady and watched the left. No gunfire answered their preliminary recon, so Jay motioned David inside, holding the door open and covering him.

  Pistol out in front, David crept inside, walking heel-toe and making sure of each step before placing his foot down. The entryway was a prime ambush site, with a built-in counter to his right, and what appeared to be a living room to his left. Ahead, a dark hallway stretched a few yards to open into another room, but he couldn't see any details.

  He took another cautious step into the house, and what did leap out at him immediately was the smoking object that skittered along the floor toward him, his mind recognizing what it was even as he dived into the living room.

  "Grenade!" he shouted.

  David landed on the thin carpet with an impact that sent pain shooting through his body. He tried to protect his injured shoulder as much as possible, but the injury still hurt with new agony. Mouth open, ears covered, he drew his legs up and had just enough time to hope the wall between him and the grenade would be solid enough to protect him.

  The detonation burst through the room in a clap of thunder, the pressure wave pushing over him as plaster and smoke billowed out of the hallway. David grabbed his pistol from the floor and covered the hallway, expecting an attacker to come charging in at any second. He heard the door creak open again, and Jay's low voice calling out.

  "Vert?"

  David spit plaster dust out and called back. "On your left." He rose to his feet, aware of warm stickiness that had penetrated the bandage on his side. Creeping to the edge of the now pockmarked wall, he saw Jay near the counter, uninjured. He pointed at the hallway. "It came from back there."

  "You okay?" Jay's eyes dropped to David's left side.

  He glanced down to see a dark blotch staining his sweatshirt. "Yeah, just a flesh wound. I'm fine." His words were interrupted by a sound like a long strip of cloth being torn coming from somewhere outside. David peered into the gloom, trying to make out anything. "Did they get out?"

  An answering burst came from above them, shells rattling on the floor over their heads. "There's your answer. Let's take him out and secure the high ground. The boys will keep anyone at the back door pinned down until we can reinforce them."

  They leapfrogged down the hallway, each one taking a step forward, then covering the other as he advanced. At the entrance to what looked like a kitchen, Jay indicated for David to head left, and he would go right, both of them sweeping and clearing the room in approved procedure. David nodded, and they burst into the space, weapons up and tracking any movement that might be hostile.

  Silence and emptiness greeted them. Light green cabinets and avocado countertops ringed the kitchen, with a dusty Formica table on its side against the far right wall. A stairway headed up, next to a door that might have been a pantry, or it might have led to a basement. Evidence of movement was everywhere on the dirty linoleum floor, but before David could make sense of it, Jay was at the stairs, submachine gun leading, listening for any movement above them. He pointed at David and himself, then up the stairs.

  David nodded, walking to the right side and covering the stairway, then motioning for Jay to go up. The older man was noiseless as he ascended the staircase, ghosting up what should have normally been a creaky set of wooden steps. They didn't make a sound under his feet. Another burst of silenced submachine gun fire came from above them, the noise allowing Jay to reach the top of the stairs. He checked the landing, then waved David up.

  Sticking to the edge of the stairs so he wouldn't alert their quarry to their presence — David sneaked up to stand behind Jay, who had readied another flash-bang grenade. The room beyond had fallen completely silent. Jay pointed at himself, then straight out along the nearest wall of the room, then at David, motioning for him to go around the corner and clear the right. David nodded, feeling the familiar adrenaline surge he always felt before entering a hostile, unknown room.

  Holstering his pistol, Jay made sure David was ready, counting down from three before pulling the pin, tossing the flash-bang into the next room, then clapping his hands over his ears. David did the same, opening his mouth again to equalize the pressure as the grenade detonated.

  The moment it went off, Jay drew and rushed along the far wall, covering the left side. David rounded the corner and swept his area of the small room, ducking to avoid hitting his head on the sloped ceiling. This room had been cleared out, leaving no furniture behind. Except for the smoldering remains of the grenade in the middle of the room, and a few dozen shell casings on the floor, it was empty.

  "Clear!" David whispered, not wanting to alert the gunman in the event he was hiding somewhere nearby. The window that opened out to the back had been smashed out completely, a weak breeze stirring the light blue curtains framing it. David pointed at the opening, then up on the roof. Jay nodded and crept over to the left side of the window. Just as he hit the wall, a burst of fire stitched through the ceiling, bullets thudding into the middle of the floor in small clouds of dust, sending wood splinters flying. David turned away, not wanting to catch a fragment in the eye. It was followed by another burst, this one only a yard or so away from David, then a third one that tore the roof open near Jay's head. No sooner had the submachine gun fire died away than the roar of an SUV engine sounded from the backyard.

  David stepped beside the window, pressing his back against the frame to steady himself as he peeked out over the yard and saw a black van accelerating toward the left side of the house. Gunfire flashed from the corner, then David heard a surprised shout, three shots, then a loud thud.

  Grabbing the top of the window frame, he pulled himself up onto the ledge, feeling the sharp burn of his injured shoulder and warm, sticky blood flowing as the wound reopened. He stood, peeking his head out and looking up.

  The shooter, a very tall man with short black hair, stood at the edge of the roof on the left side of the house, his head down, poised as if to jump. Holding on to the roof edge with his wounded arm, the pain throbbing through his upper body, David managed to get his pistol up and aimed at the man.

  Lining up the three-dot sights, he was about to squeeze the trigger when the tall man looked in his direction, his eyes widening at the sight. He swiveled at the hips, bringing his short-barreled submachine gun around to fire. Before he could, however, David squeezed the trigger of his pistol three times, the small bullets punching into the guy's chest.

  At the same time, a burst from the other window hit the gunman in the back, making him stagger and step off the roof, pitching over without a sound. David glanced over to see Jay, who'd apparentl
y had the same idea, propped up on the other side, subgun held in both hands. A second later, there was a meaty thump, as if someone had pitched a pig carcass off the side. Jay's head disappeared as David heard automatic fire from the parking lot out front.

  "Shit!" Sweating and shaking, David slowly lowered himself back inside, mindful that he could easily take the same route to the ground the shooter had if he wasn't careful. Only when his feet touched the floor did he breathe easier.

  Jay stood at the other window, firing at an unseen target. "Damn, they're armored, as well." He whirled and headed for the stairway. "Julio's down — come on!" He pounded down the stairs in huge steps, with David behind him, struggling to catch up. On the main level, he followed Jay out the door and around the corner, where Fritz was already tending to Julio, who lay on the ground, clutching his side and groaning. The roof shooter lay unmoving a few feet away, his legs twisted beneath his body, a submachine gun in the dirt near his limp hand. His open, sightless eyes confirmed his death.

  Fritz looked up, his unlined face furrowed as David and Jay ran over. "That bastard nailed him pretty good, threw him hard into the wall. He's got broken ribs, maybe a punctured lung — I'm not sure."

  Indeed, Julio didn't look well at all, gasping for breath as his normally caramel-colored face turned a flushed pink. His voice still worked, however. "Get — that — motherfucker…" he gasped in between breams.

  Jay produced a small medical kit and tossed it to Fritz. "Call the local hospital. They can send an ambulance. Use the Good Samaritan cover. We'll grab the SUV and go."

  Fritz had pulled open Julio's shirt and was gently probing his abdomen, eliciting small gasps of pain when his fingers touched the other man's skin. "We'll be all right. Get after them, before they get away," he said.

  Jay slapped David's shoulder. "Let's go."

  David followed him to the SUV, which bore plenty of evidence that their enemy had tried to take it out. The grille was punctured and broken from multiple bullet hits, but Jay barely glanced at it as he ran to the driver's side. "Come on!"

  David scrambled for the passenger's seat, getting in as Jay fired the engine and took off, rocketing onto the road in a squeal of tires.

  "How's your side?" Jay asked.

  David grimaced when he saw how far the bloodstain had spread. "It hurts — a lot."

  "Are you good to keep going?"

  David probed his side, and gritted his teeth. "I'm okay, but I could use a pick-me-up."

  "There's a case in the back — get what you need there."

  David turned in his seat and saw a small case, similar to the one Jay had tossed Fritz, on the seat behind him. Grabbing it, he pushing it open and found the stimulant he needed, popping the small red pill out of its foil and swallowing it dry. Tucking his pistol away for the moment, he leaned back in the seat and buckled up as Jay pushed the SUV harder after the fleeing van.

  39

  Anthony cursed as he saw Gregor fall off the roof. Pressing on the gas, he headed for the road, but stopped when he saw the SUV parked outside the front of the house. Rolling his window down, he sent a burst of bullets into the front of the vehicle, hoping to disable it, but no sooner had he started firing than the van shook from the impact of bullets hitting its roof and side. Growling, he hit the gas again and roared onto the road, the vehicle slewing back and forth as he headed due west.

  In the passenger's seat, Maggie was huddled against the far door, curled in on herself. The blood on her face had clotted and caked, making her look as if she had smeared dark, reddish-brown lipstick all over her mouth and chin. She didn't move, didn't look at Anthony, which was just fine with him. Having broken her, he was concentrating on one thing only — getting to the helicopter and getting the hell out of there.

  It had been a near enough thing already. Despite hitting the back door right after throwing that frag grenade into the front room, they had nearly been caught in the ambush by the other two shooters. If Gregor hadn't been able to drive the one on the right corner back under cover for a moment, allowing Anthony to keep the left one's head down, he never would have made it to the van. The thump as he had rammed the guy on the left had been most satisfying, but not at the cost of Gregor's life. Unfortunately, there was nothing to be done about that now — not when he had what he had come here for, risked his life for and would now deliver safely to his company, no matter what the cost. Anthony had the girl and her computer, and no one was going to prevent him from getting her back to Mercury headquarters.

  In the passenger's seat, the girl's head rose a fraction, and she seemed to be looking at something other than the floor. Anthony checked his rearview mirror.

  "Goddamn it!"

  Coming up behind them was the same dark gray SUV, with the old man and that fucking guy again, and it was gaining fast.

  In the heavy, slower van, Anthony had no hope of outrunning them. But he had another trick up his sleeve. "Okay, boys, come on — just a little bit closer." Opening the glove compartment, he pressed two buttons, then gripped the joystick that popped up when he activated the defense system. His lips peeled back from his teeth in a feral grin as the SUV grew larger and larger in his mirror. Just a little closer, he thought. Then you're gonna get the surprise of the rest of your very short lives.

  40

  "Pop the storage compartment in the cargo area. We're going to need something bigger to take this thing out," Jay said as he leaned forward in his seat, as if he could somehow help the SUV go faster.

  David reclined his seat and scrambled into the rear passenger's compartment. The pill was already working, reducing the aches in his side and shoulder to mere twinges. He felt energized, wide-awake and ready to take on anyone. He knew that was also a notorious side effect of the medication, and tried to keep his mind clear so that he wouldn't go charging off into certain death. Reaching down to the floor of the cargo area, he pulled up the rough cloth covering, revealing the crosshatch-stamped metal covering of a secret compartment.

  "Standard code?" he called out.

  "Yeah," Jay replied.

  The codes to unlock certain parts of a Room 59 vehicle varied, depending on what day of the month it was. David ran the equation in his head and punched in the numbers. The panel recessed and slid away. "Yeah, this'll definitely help." He bypassed the submachine guns and rifles in favor of a drab green-and-black weapon that looked like a bulky, futuristic automatic shotgun. Grabbing a magazine, he slammed it into the empty well in the weapon's stock, then primed it.

  "I just heard from Fritz. The Brussels police are on-site, and so is an ambulance. They're radioing the surrounding towns to be on the lookout for us, so — Gott in himmel."

  Jay's abrupt utterance made David turn to look out the window. What he saw made his jaw drop, the XM25 grenade launcher almost forgotten in his hands.

  Jay had approached to within twenty yards of the van, which would have been almost too close to use the launcher in the first place. However, a large panel had opened up on the top of the van, and David saw something he hadn't expected to see outside of armored personnel carriers in Third World countries.

  A large machine gun, mounted on an independently moving pintle and frame, had popped out of the roof, its perforated, air-cooled barrel pointing directly at them. Jay swerved the SUV to the right just as the automatic weapon roared, releasing a burst of bullets that slammed into the road next to them, blowing chunks of asphalt into the air.

  "Jesus Christ, is that a Ma Deuce?" Still holding the grenade launcher, David turned around in the backseat and opened the door, locking it in place. He flipped down the platform that would enable him to stand behind the door to use it as cover while he fired at the van. Even though the SUV was covered in Level 4 armor, he also knew that if a .50-caliber shell hit the door, it would punch right through it, and him, as well.

  "Yes, it most certainly is." Even with this new development, Jay's voice remained calm. "Good thing he doesn't have a copilot in there, or we'd be dead alrea
dy — he must be aiming it himself." The German cursed and wrenched the wheel over, nearly dislodging David, who had just managed to buckle himself in to the safety strap on the reinforced door. "You better take that gun out quick — I don't know how long I can keep playing hide-and-seek."

  "Can you get alongside? Better chance of trying for a tire." The wind rushing around the door whipped past David's head, making him squint as he focused on his target weaving back and forth on the road ahead, trying to line them up in his sights.

  "He's blocking both lanes. I can't risk putting the SUV in the ditch. Besides, that .50-caliber has a good arc of fire — he might be able to tag us anyway. Hold on!"

  Jay tried to swerve out of the way of another burst. This time he wasn't so lucky. The bullets chewed into the front driver's-side panel of the SUV, piercing the rolled steel-lined body panel and hitting the tire, which burst, sending the SUV's corner lurching down for a moment before the run-flat propped it up.

  Jay hunched over the steering wheel, trying to minimize his profile in the driver's seat. "We can't take another hit like that — you ready?"

  "Just give me three seconds!" David snugged the butt of the XM25 into his shoulder and put his eye to the built-in targeting scope, which used a laser rangefinder to give the exact distance between the launcher and the target and adjust the fuse on the grenade itself, making it detonate at the most optimal time, allowing for increased lethality. The only problem was whether the system could compensate for a moving target, not to mention that David was not exactly on a stable platform himself. "Hold it steady!" he shouted.

  "Easier said than done!" To his credit, Jay did his best, jinking left, then right, then left again and falling back suddenly. "Hit it!"